Incase you don't follow it, Saturday's Powerball is estimated at $290,000,000. Yes! That's 7 zeros behind a 29! Regardless of the odds, your views on gambling, or your like/dislike of the lottery, it might be a good time just to spend a dollar or two on the off chance that your numbers come up.
Now, I remember the lottery commissioner in an interview saying two remarkable things:
1) The odds of getting in a car accident on the way to buying your ticket are greater than winning the lottery
and 2) if you only buy one ticket then your odds are the same as mine [the commissioner's] and I [the commissioner] can't play.
That said, your odds are even less if you don't buy a ticket.
I had the pleasure of speaking with somone that declared herself "the neighborhood bookie" and went on to explain she was buying tickets for all the ladies that didn't want to come out and do it themselves. She giggled and said, "we are the desperate housewives." This lottery is dragging out people that would never play it. The statistics on tnlotteryresults.com back that up. I hope the winner is someone that truly deserves it and needs the money.
